Mobile communication systems have evolved over the past ten years or so from the GSM System (Global System for Mobiles) to the 3G system and now include packet data communications as well as circuit switched communications. The third generation project partnership (3GPP) has developed a mobile communication system referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE) in which a core network part has been developed to form a more simplified architecture based on a merging of components of earlier mobile radio network architectures and a wireless access interface which is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) on the uplink.
Access to the internet for gaining information and services has become ubiquitous for modern day electronics devices. As such, evolved mobile communications networks such as the LTE standards are being developed in order to incorporate features which can facilitate connection to the internet and transmission of content data to mobile communications terminals wirelessly. The content data may be any type of data which is providing services to a user. For example the content data may be streams audio or video content or a web page, but these are just examples. The term content data should therefore not be limited to a particular type of data but is generally used to infer higher layer user data.
As will be appreciated by those acquainted with the field of mobile telecommunications, communications resources are a valued commodity and so should be managed as efficiently as possible.
It has been envisaged that many mobile communications terminals may be receiving content data such as streaming video audio and data from a packet data network such as the internet via a mobile communications network, which may in some examples be the same content data items from the same source and so managing the delivery of that content data represents a technical problem.